Walnut Ridge, Ark. – This afternoon the Columbia College baseball team was back on the diamond when they traveled to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, to take on the Williams Baptist (Ark.) College Eagles in the AMC Game of the Week. The Cougars played a doubleheader against the Eagles claiming both games to improve to 15-4 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.

In the first game against the Eagles, the Cougars were able to put together four hits in a close 1-0 victory. Neither side was able to get anything going through the first few innings of the game as both pitchers were throwing the ball well. Columbia College was finally able to take the lead in the top of the fourth inning following a solo homerun from Tanner Allen to make the score 1-0. The Eagles did their best to get back into the game in the final innings but the Cougars were able to close them out down the stretch to pick up their 14^th win of the season.

Dakota Stone (2-1) was on the mound for Columbia in this one as the senior allowed just five hits while striking out six in his first complete game shutout of the season. Offensively, Tanner Allen led the way for the Cougars picking up the lone RBI of the game after hitting his second homerun of the season. In addition, Tim Fox went 2-3 and Joshua Miller went 1-3.

In the second game against the Eagles, Columbia College put together 17 hits in a 14-3 win. The Cougars offense was rolling from the start in this one as they rallied for three runs in the first, four runs in the second, and two runs in the third to jump out to a quick 9-0 lead. They were able to add four more runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 13-0 but one run from the Eagles in the bottom half of the inning cut the lead to 13-1 heading into the sixth. Columbia College picked up one final run in the top of the seventh and the Eagles responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning but that was as close as they would get as the Cougars picked up the final outs to solidify the doubleheader sweep.

J.W. McGraw (3-0) got the start in this one allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out six in 6.0 innings of work. Lane Threlkeld (0-0) came into relieve McGraw in the seventh and allowed two hits and two earned runs in the final inning of the game. Ethan Howser led the way for Columbia offensively as he went 4-5 with two homeruns and three RBI's. To go along with Howser, Blade McKee went 2-5 with two RBI's, Andrew Warner went 3-4 with a homerun, Tanner Allen went 2-5 with three RBI's, Justin Randle went 3-4 with an RBI, and Luke Miller went 1-3 with a two run homerun to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The baseball team is back in action tomorrow, March 9^th when they take on the Eagles for the third game of the three game series. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.